


Discovery

by panffin



Series: Shallura Week 2016 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Shallura Week 2016, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 13:05:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7893754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panffin/pseuds/panffin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Allura is a mermaid who meets Shiro for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so somewhere along the line I decided to make all the Shallura Week prompts into a Disney AU. So here's Little Mermaid. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Day 1 - Discovery/Recovery

Allura swam through the waves, racing with the local dolphins. She wasn’t allowed near the surface of the ocean, but that didn’t stop her. In her very humble opinion, she was a young princess who deserved the right to explore. The dolphins matched her speed, taunting her as they slowly sped up and slowed down. Allura grinned and laughed as she sped up. They raced along the wide expanse of ocean with no particular goal in mind, until the dolphins dipped deep the ocean. Allura swam on for awhile, but soon stopped when she realized they would not follow her anymore.

“Strange…” She muttered, turning back to where she last saw them. Then, in the distance, she could hear it. Loud shouts and noises from above the ocean. She faced forward again and saw it in the distance. It was a large ship, much closer to the horizon than it was to her. Allura wanted to go check it out, but knew that she shouldn’t. She was already so far away from home, though, so what would that little bit further be in comparison? And that was all the convincing she needed before ducking into the covers of the ocean and making her way towards the ship.

The closer she got, the louder the ruckus was. From previous experience, she knew that that wasn’t a good sign. When those humans were up and making merry, they proved to be very dangerous. She once saw some of them brawling and it ended with one of them getting tossed into the ocean. In the middle of the night. Even _she_ was cold. Well, she didn’t really see much of the fight. But she was definitely there to see the human fly out of the ship and smack right into the ocean. She would have gone to check on him but he seemed fine. His crew mates were even lowering a boat to save him, all laughing.

Now, at her current situation, she made her way closer to the ship. It was loud with music and laughing. It sounded like a grand celebration. Allura noticed something white on the side of the ship and went closer, discovering that it was a man with striking white hair. Which was odd, because it seemed that white hair for humans was only reserved for the old. This man didn’t look that old though. He was resting on the side of the boat, looking out into the ocean in silence. He looked very… peaceful. Like it was the first moment of rest he’s allowed himself in ages. Allura swam underwater and got even closer. If she was careful, he may not notice if she stuck her head out of the water. It was getting dark, the light from setting sun casting on the ship to form a shadow where she was.  _ Should be safe enough. _

She popped her head out of the ocean. 

The view of the man was much clearer without the water obstructing her view. He was indeed young, possibly around her age. Something she did not notice earlier was that it was only his fringe that was white. Maybe the white hair was a coming of age thing for humans? She was curious. How did their hair change colours? Was he born with only his back hair black? Merpeople were entirely different. Her people, as with most merfolks, had white hair from birth to death. It was only with humans that she saw so many different types of colours. What a joy it must be to be able to change their hair colour! Or to change anything about themselves, she thought wistfully as she looked at her fins. Humans could build ships and boats to travel the ocean. She could only watch them from a distance. She sighed, and it came out much louder than she expected. But even then, it must have been hard to hear with all that was going on at the ship. And yet, the man must have heard because he stood at attention, scanning the ocean surface. Allura tried to duck in time, submerging herself deep so that her bright hair wouldn’t give her away. He spotted her though, and squinted at where she was. He was wary, but shouted something indistinguishable through the water.

Allura should leave. She had never been careless enough to be seen. This was bad and she should go. But she couldn’t help herself, her curiosity fueling her brain bad ideas like popping back up to say hello. And so she did.

They locked eyes instantly. Allura could feel every fiber in her vibrating in anticipation. She was too far away to properly make out his expressions, especially in the dimming light. If he showed any signs of calling others or doing anything that seemed dangerous to her, Allura was prepared to swim as fast as she could away from the ship and to pretend like everything never happened. Moments pass, the human seemingly stuck in the same position as her. His head flicked around, as if to check for people, before looking back at her.  _ What was he trying to do? _

They stared in silence for a moment longer until he lifted both his hands from where they had been gripping onto the wooden railing. He raised his hands palms open and towards her. He said something then, with a cautious look. Allura couldn’t make it out because the noise behind him had been growing. She tilted her head in obvious confusion and edged closer to the ship. She had to turn her neck almost all the way up in order to keep an eye on him.

“Are you okay?” He shouted again when she seemed to not want to inch any closer.

Allura snorted in response, his question having taken her by surprise. Really, you meet a mythical creature and that’s how you respond?

She didn’t want to shout back, afraid that the other humans may hear her. So she stretched one of her hands out of the water to give him a thumbs up. Her expression showed she was still confused, if not amused.

The human nodded and gave a tentative smile. Allura returned it with a big smile of her own. This was amazing! Never had she ever interacted with a human. And this one was so nice too! 

He looked to the side further down the ship to where a smaller boat was hanging off a contraption. He made eye contact at her again, pointed at the boat, and lowered his pointing hand to the ocean. Allura understood what he meant, and considered her options. If he got onto that boat, there’s no way to know what he could do to her up close. For all she knew, there could be a long spear in there ready to skewer her. But then again, if he did come down just to talk… And she was already this far gone so why not? 

That seemed to be a recurring motivation tonight.

She shrugged her shoulders and the man was off. He only gave a quick glance back at the party of people before quickly lowering himself down. Allura swam towards him, stopping when she was right next to the boat.

“You…. You’re a mermaid, right?” He asked, incredulous.

“Yes. And it’s obvious enough that you’re human.” She responded with a small smirk.

He let out a small laugh. Allura decided that she liked it and smiled wider. Conversation was stunted at best, but as the minutes went on they eased into the flow of the words. She asked him about the sky and why does the sun rise and fall. He asked her if she needed oxygen to breathe. 

(They both didn’t know the answer to either questions)

She asked him if it was hard to control two feet at the same time, to which he barked a laugh and said, “No, but sometimes I trip on nothing and ask myself the same question.”

He asked her where did she came from, and she didn’t quite know how to respond. Giving away her home was too much. She frowned a little before replying, “The ocean is my home.” He accepted the answer with an understanding nod.

They continued on, talking until the last light of the evening left the sky.

* * *

 

The next time they meet, things were very different. It had been many moons since their previous meeting, but Allura could recognize him anywhere. His odd hair colouring was a distinct feature that nobody else seemed to have.

The next time they meet, the man was struggling for breath as he sank lower into the ocean depth. His ship was on its way to ruins, the fire blazing on the large pieces of wood that remained.

Allura didn’t stop a moment to think. She raced her way to where she saw the man’s sinking form and grabbed a hold of him. His eyes were closed. Allura didn’t know what to do. Around them were only small floating rubble and sinking debris. Without any other choice, she grabbed him and swam as fast as she could to the beach. 

It was dark. Even the moon wasn’t out. Allura had no worries about being seen - the empty beach was silent save for the ocean waves crashing into it. She had been here many times. It was an island inhabited by a small village. Allura dragged the man as far out onto the shore as she could. It was hard to carry him without the buoyancy of the water, but she was strong and she managed. 

The man grunted in pain, wincing as he woke up. Allura stayed, waiting for him to fully come to. His eyes opened and he started coughing out water. Allura managed to help him turn to his side so that he didn’t choke. They stayed like that for awhile, the man heaving while trying to stabilize his breath. He looked at her, opened his mouth to say something, when his eyes darted to the hand that she had taken into her own at some point earlier. She held on, attempting to soothe him, although he hadn’t responded to it at all.

He stared down his arm and there, just above his elbow, there was a large bump that was definitely not a bruise. It was almost disfigured. His eyes widened.

“I can’t feel my arm.”

Allura looked down to where their hands connected, at his arm, and back at him.

“Oh my goodness. It’s broken, isn’t it? Are you in pain?” The words spilled out.

“I don’t know. I think the adrenaline is working it’s magic on me,” He replied, stunned, “But I don’t think it’ll last for long.” Allura looked into his eyes.

“I’ll go. When I’m gone, call for help. The island is small, someone will hear you. You need to get this checked as soon as possible.” She said in a rush, backing away and making her way back to the crashing waves.

“Wait!” The man called out. Allura turned behind. “What’s your name?”

Allura gaped, because  _ was this really the time? _

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t think we’ll see each other again.”

“We will.” He said, getting onto his knees and making the few steps towards her. The waves continued to crash between them. Allura looked into his eyes and regarded him. “We will meet again.” He repeated, firm, without a room for doubt. She raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“What were you doing on a small boat before the explosion on your ship?”

The man flushed.

“You knew?”

“I heard about it from some fish. They said you definitely weren’t fishing.”

“I-I…” He stuttered out, “I wanted to see you again.” Allura felt her cheeks burn in return and couldn’t keep up the eye contact. “And now that I can finally meet you again, I have to go and almost drown." He chuckled, "You saved me.” He continued, his unbroken arm reaching out to move her hair out of her face. “Thank you.”

Allura looked at him and bit her bottom lip.

“Allura.” She said. The man looked confused for a moment before it clicked.

“Shiro... Or Takashi. Either one.” He said before shyly taking her hand into his and lifting it to give it a quick kiss, eyes locked to hers. “Until we meet again.”

Allura’s heart skipped a beat. They held hands for awhile, just happy to share a few moments longer together. The sun was going to rise soon, the sky tainted a deep purple. Their moment was interrupted by noises in the distance. People were waking up.

“Until we meet again.” Allura repeated, taking back her hand and returning to the ocean.

**Author's Note:**

> I wonder if the theme came across alright? This 2k came out as an accident because I honestly only wanted to write short drabbles hahaha
> 
> don't expect as much for the remaining prompts, but honestly I'm still writing them so who knows? Also, I guess broken arms don't work?


End file.
